Corky: Every little thing it does is 'magic'

I was once again sitting on my deck with my neighbor, the infamous "Iguana," last night and the topic of discussion turned to "Magic" surfboards.

The reason for that is we were looking at my new "Magic Cow" model that Walden Surfboards has just introduced. That is where the "magic" part came in. That aside, what we consider a magic board is one that is so perfect for you that you feel you can do anything at any time with it. You have ultimate confidence in it and it becomes a part of you as you surf.

These boards are extremely rare and don't come along very often. Yes, there are boards that you like and ride great and all of that. But the true magic ones are very hard to get your feet on. Most people will never experience one of those boards. But if you are a full-time and lifelong surfer you will know exactly what I am talking about.

I have been lucky enough to have had a few in my life. I can remember all of them. I wish I still had some of them, too. As we were talking about this and working diligently on a new "Corkarita" formula, the memories of some of those boards came to mind.

The first one I had was a used board that Rich Harbour loaned me while he was making me a board back in 1961. It was a kind of mustard/orange thing that somebody had traded in. From the first moment I took off on a wave I knew that I could really open up and push my limits, as they were at that time, to a new level. I found so much joy in that feeling, not knowing that it would be a rare thing as time went on.

Unfortunately, I broke that board in half when it hit one of the pilings under a house across the street from me in Surfside. That was back when the homes where actually in the water at high tide.

The next magic board I had was also a used board I got in between getting my own made at the Hobie Shop. I had, again, broken a board and my new one was not ready yet. So I grabbed a board that Joey Cabell had turned in and took it out on a good day at Cotton's Point. This would have been in 1965. Just like with the Orange Harbour, I felt that feeling from the first turn. I loved that board so much that I think I kept it and kept riding it even after my new one was finished.

I am not sure what happened to that one. I think that was when we came out with the first Corky Carroll Model and I used some of the design from that board.

The next one I remember was a purple "Deadly Flying Glove" CC Model that Terry Martin shaped for me in 1969. I called it "Purp." That board flew.

What probably got me off of that one was the next magic board that came on. That would have been my first twin fin in 1970. I liked that design so much that I went back to it in a bigger version about 15 years ago.

A magic one came along about 10 years ago in the form of my beloved "Cow" twinnie that I rode exclusively up until about three years ago when I had the short but extremely pleasurable experience of riding a board that my pal Kevin Ho brought over from Hawaii. It was an 8' Kane Garden twinzer quad. I loved that board and wanted it but could not get it from Kevin no matter how hard I tried or how much I offered.

That led to a three-year search for another magic board, which landed me on my current "Cow."

There might have been a few others along the way, but these are the ones that came to mind in our discussion. After close to 60 years of surfing and having ridden thousands of surfboards, you can see how rare a true "magic" board can be. If you are lucky enough to get one, keep it.